Pokemon The Lost Version
by Beyond Ordinary
Summary: Welcome to the Gosuto region. I don't think you might have heard of us- of course you haven't. This is Pokemon Amythest, the one and only copy and the world. So what are you waiting for? Run and get your DS...and play...play the game...


POKEMON CREEPYPASTA- THE LOST VERSION

All of this is being written in an old Composition journal that I dug out of the university basement. In reality, a Composition journal is definitely not fitting for the occasion, (I want to use a computer, but the seniors are currently using them to type up their theoretical analysises), but it's the only thing I could find. I'm frankly kind of surprised that I'm able to write this all down, but even so, my heart is beating out of my chest as I remember everything. The memories are all coming back to me now. Right now I'm in my college dorm, on the top bunk (where I sleep, my friend Vanessa sleeps on the bottom), and I'm writing with a ballpoint pen. You probably won't believe me, because, after all, this is a world where absolutely nothing out of the ordinary happens to ordinary people like you or me. But something did happen to me, something I will never forget, and something that will continue to haunt my life for years to come.

This is my story.

DAY 1 PART 1

It was a normal day- like any other day.

I was just thirteen years old at the time, a skinny girl, mediocre, not especially athletic or popular or anything too special. But that was okay- the majority of my piers fell into the group of mediocrity and we were all pretty much used to it. It was Saturday the day it all started, a misty Saturday morning in the summer, maybe 10:00 A.M. It was the middle of June and school had gotten out the week before, which was a real relief to me. There were a bunch of kids roaming around, up early zooming around on their bikes and throwing footballs to each other, middle-school boys jumping on skateboards and doing seemingly impossible skateboard tricks against rough-sided curbs. I remember everything about that day clearly- lavender clouds in the sky, the sky a bright cerulean blue, the sun crisply rising over the edges and basking golden rays over the trees and grass.

I was strolling around with my jean cuffs rolled up to avoid dragging in the night-rain puddles, hands in my pockets because I was self-concious about my fingernails (I was always chewing on them out of nervous habit). I was taking a walk to avoid the ruckus going on at my house, brothers and sisters suiting up for camp while my mom and dad tried to get them and themselves ready all at the same time. Sometimes you just had to escape all the yelling and shouting and bacon-microwaving. I was also out walking because I was bored-my friend Cassie was sick with the flu, and my friend Vanessa was at her cousin's wedding or something. I'd be home alone all day, a whole house to myself. I licked my lips- I had eaten waffles and the syrup had been sticky.

I don't now how it even happened, really. At first I thought it must've been a coincidence that I decided to take a walk on that exact day, at that exact moment. Maybe it was because there was some unnamed popular dude who lived on that street, who happened to be Ripsticking that morning out in the cold. Maybe it was because I wanted to be out before the sun burned away all the fog. But now I know the truth- it wasn't coincidental at all. But I didn't know at the time. I continued to walk, looking sideways at all the middle-school boys out and about, my eyes still partially tired from sleep. I yawned, stepping on dew-spotted grass to avoid a lady walking a fluffy white dog, and looked around. Someone's sprinklers had turned on and were spraying their yard with beads of glittering water. I took a deep breath, brisk morning air filling my lungs, and looked at the stop sign a few hundred yards ahead of me. I would walk up to there and then turn back, I decided. Then I'd probably get my DS out and play around on Pokemon Pearl.

I walked slowly down the sidewalk, my sandals leaving damp footprints on the concrete. I made sure not to step on any of the thin pink earthworms that were peering out from their muddy homes to get a taste of the morning dewdrops. The street seemed to become cast and empty as I reached the far side of the neighborhood, yells of middle-school boys fading behind me. It was like walking into a wall of uneasy silence, cool breezes ruffling the leaves. I stopped. There was the stop sign, and also...there was a hunched figure hobbling toward me. I stepped back to let them pass.

I got a good look at whoever it was. They were wearing a dark black hood that shielded most of their face. An ancient, wrinkly chin jutted from underneath the folds of ebony, along with clumps of frizzy white hair. It was an old lady, and she was traveling approximately at the speed of snail.

I was surprised when she stopped, her hood shifting back so I could see her whole face. Her nose was a misshapen blob in the middle of her face, and her eyes- well, I couldn't see them, as they were guarded by thick black sunglasses. There was something unnervingly witchy about her, but at the same time she looked completely innocent and harmless. As she came closer the scent of violets emanated from her body, as if she'd doused herself in flowers. She opened her mouth to speak- and even though there's the whole concept of stranger danger- I listened closely. A little old lady couldn't do much harm.

"Hello, child," she said gently. I blinked, because her voice didn't fit her appearance at all. It was the voice of a young woman, someone in her thirties. A soft, timid voice. Not like the typical gravelly voice you found in elderly people at all.

She slipped her hand into a large pocket in the side of her cloak. Her frizzy hair blew around in the wind. "It's quite a nice morning- isn't it?" she said, smiling a little bit. I nodded. I hoped the conversation wouldn't be too long- I was kind of getting tired of standing out in the dewy sidewalk puddles. She nodded back, then shifted her wrinkled hand around in the cloaked pocket, pulling something from within. I wondered if she was going to offer me candy. If that happened then I would have to refuse it and run away and hope she wasn't an insane sociopath who wanted to poison me.

Thankfully she didn't pull out candy. She pulled out a case of some sort, shiny and plasticized with a thin film. Purple in color, I recognized it as a Pokemon game. She handed it to me without asking whether or not I wanted it. I would have accepted it anyway- I liked Pokemon games and was good at them.

"What's this?" I asked automatically. It wasn't any edition I had ever seen before. I read the letters scrawled across the top: POKEMON AMYTHEST.

The cover was unidentifiable. The shadow of a Pokemon- shadowed and black- filled the center. Laces of purple fire surrounded the shape. I was interested right aeay.

"It's a special version," she said quietly, saying it formally like it were information secreted directly from the FBI. It felt sort of secret anyway. "Pokemon Amythest- they don't sell it in stores. This is the one and only version of it. You can keep it if you'd like."

I shook the case. I wondered vaguely if it held a bomb, or was doused with drugs. But I couldn't refuse this game, if it were really a game. The only one in the world! How could I refuse something like that? "Thank you, um...for giving it to me."

I looked down, tilting the case back and forth so the light shined on it. Was it really real? If it was, was it really some legendary version of Pokemon? I wonder how much money it was worth. And how coincidental, for me to be thinking about Pokemon games, and then an old lady comes around the corner and gives me an unreleased singular Pokemon game that no one else in the world has. Maybe it was a gift from the heavens. I had the sudden urge to tell somebody about it.

But...why me? Some random little girl she found taking a walk? Well. Maybe she was just really nice. Old people are really nice, aren't they?

I looked up again to thank her, but she had vanished. My heart thumped loudly, making my chest jump up and down. The air suddenly felt eerie cold, like ice had crystallized the atmosphere. With the old lady's disappearance everything became gray and undefined. Slowly, without my realizing, the sunlight began to dissolve away, leaving the streets a shade darker. I felt a plip of iciness on my nose.

I kind of felt vague- that what-just-happened feeling. So suddenly had everything changed, a leaf-stirring chilly wind blowing around the streets. I turned around and started to walk, goosebumps running along my skin. Then, on perfect cue, I felt another cold drop, and it began to drizzle.

DAY 1, PART 2

Once I'd reached my porch the drizzle had progressed into a steady-beating rain, and my hair was dripping wet. I opened the door and rushed inside, pausing briefly to wipe my feet and kick off my shoes, my toes feeling the welcoming warmth of a portable heater by my feet. I had rushed home, and now I had one objective, and that was to try out this new game of mine. I retrieved my DS from its spot on the lamp table and flipped it open. I was alone now, rain hitting the windowpane, my brothers and sisters at camp somewhere and my mom and dad driving over water-slicked highways to work. I held the game in my hands, staring at it. I couldn't tell if it was real or not, but I desperately hoped it was. How cool would it be if this really were a legendary Pokemon edition, never-before-seen, all mine...and not only that, but I'd gotten it for free. It looked perfectly perfect in its plastic cover and I almost didn't want to disturb its impeccable interior. But I reached for some scissors anyway. I was driven forward by curiosity.

I grasped the scissors in my hand, and carefully snipped open the creased plastic at the top. I curled my fingernails into the opening and slowly peeled off the transparent film with my fingers. It came away easily, revealing the gleaming untouched case underneath. I turned it over to look at the back, to see maybe if I could gather any information of what the game was about. I hoped it was a new region- I didn't really want to go back to the boring familiarity of Sinnoh. I observed the pictures, but they weren't very readable. There wasn't any clear sign of what was going on. Purple light- explosions and bursts- blurred the pictures, and in one, there was an eerie violet Pokemon eye, or at least I thought it was a Pokemon. And at the bottom, where there was supposed to be a rating, there was no "E" or "T" or anything. In fact, there was no English I could recognize. The whole thing was scrawled in a strange, mysterious language. I detected some similarities to the Unown symbols, but they were a little different. I thought it over for a little bit. I hoped that the game itself would be in English...what's the point if you can't understand it? And I really hoped the game didn't turn out to be a dud. Why would anyone want to do that, anyway?

Nonetheless, I pried open the game cover, and...to my relief, the game card sat perched in its hold. The inch-wide game card had the words POKEMON AMYTHEST printed across the same fire-laced purple background as the cover, still and untouched. I took it out, being careful not to scratch it (I'm always extra-careful with electronics) closed the case, and clicked it into my DS. My heart leapt with excitement. I wonder what sort of secrets this game held? I flicked on the power and folded open my DS. Thankfully, when I clicked past the warning screen, there was the DS card option, the rectangular section purple and flashy. I pressed my stylus against the DS card section, and the screen cut to black. Soft music started to play. Scary -sounding music, spooky-sounding. It differed from Diamond or Pearl. There was something about the ominous, trembly, high-stringed solo that put me off. It gave me an uneasy feeling, like the one when I met the old lady on the street.

Words flickered across the screen- they were in the Unown-looking language, which lowered my standards. If the whole game was in this language then there was no reason to play it. The words then smeared, fading away. There was silence; blackness. Out of nowhere a base drum thudded. It sounded louder than the volume settings should allow. As the drum sounded, a picture of a foggy lavender background appeared, accompanied by a small black shadow. The same thunderous sound replayed, and this time it zoomed onto the creature's face. It seemed to be a dragonlike creature, and it was surrounded by dancing, twisting shadows.

Something about the whole setup was just creepy.

Another boom, and it zoomed farther in. Then, abruptly the creatures eyes tore open. I jumped, it was so sudden. They were eerie purple, surrounded by a ghoulish glow, like the ones I had seen on the back of the game cover. However the pupils were shrunken and tiny, and pointing in different directions- the right one pointed far right, the left one pointed far left, like the creature had gone inexplicably deranged. The frame only lasted a split second, but what made it worse was that a painfully high rip of strings blared from the speakers, like they do in horror movies. It sounded absolutely horrible.

The screen went black immediately after. I was breathing fast, I noticed. I'm the kind of person who can't watch horror films, or even play scary video games, especially not when it was raining and dark like this (and it didn't help that the living room lightbulbs had blown a fuse the day before). The screen stayed black for a while, and the silence made me feel shivery. I wondered if something had gone wrong. Well, the game had been priceless, so it wouldn't be much of a surprise if it malfunctioned, would it? But no, a little white rectangle appeared with the words "new game"- I was relieved to see English. I wondered why the intro was so short, and why there hadn't been a "start" button- but oh well, that made it more interesting anyway. I clicked the A button, my breathing still quick, and the screen went black again.

After a few seconds a lone figure appeared. I looked at it closely- it must've been the new Professor. It was a person who resembled the old lady I'd met on the street, and I wondered too if that was a coincidence. He was wearing a black robe, the same as the lady had. But the head was visible, and you could see spiky sprouts of lavender-white hair sticking up all over his head. Only you couldn't see his face; he wore a black blindfold with long ties flowing out behind him.

It was deathly quiet, and no music played in the background. "Hello there," said the man, his hands folded behind his back. "My name is Professor Willow...welcome to the world of POKEMON AMYTHEST..."

I couldn't get it off my mind how unfinished everything looked. There was barely any background, just swirling purple, and no music...it was strange. But I clicked on, to see what else the game had in store.

The screen cut to black again, and then an island appeared. I noticed everything was either white, black, or some shade of purple- I guessed it would be like Pokemon Red, where everything was relatively the same color as the game's trademark color. The island itself was a dark plum color, while the surrounding sea was a soft lilac.

"This is the Gosuto region- a place of many secrets- but nonetheless, a place of great learning..." the man's words raced across the text box. "You will discover much to do here...you will never be without task...you will be very busy here..." The dot dot dots were to add to the feel, I supposed.

The man's face appeared on the screen. "You are young, but I can see that you know a lot. I am Professor Willow, an expert on Pokemon. Pokemon are very mystical creatures who have strange powers, and you will see many of them. I am responsible for setting you up for your journey."

My eyebrow furrowed. I took note they didn't let you pick the gender of your character, which was an old-time thing. Old Pokemon cartridges like Red and Blue didn't let you pick a gender, but surely a newer version would have updated features. I didn't know what my character looked like. I clicked the A button again.

A shadow appeared in front of the Professor. We had now shrunken down to game-playing size. My character's shadow dissolved into a person, and I saw it was a girl. She wore a white headband and had lavender hair, wearing some kind of dark violet vest. It looked like a girl, anyway- maybe this was also derived from Pokemon Red, where you can only be a boy, except vice versa. Even if it was a boy there was something very feminine about her, so I continued to imagine her that way.

The Professor handed me three items. One was shaped like a sort of doll, with stick-up, raggedy brown hair and button eyes. Another was a round, shiny black stone. The third was a light purple bag.

"This is your Handbag," the Professor said, and the screen highlighted the bag. "You will need it throughout your journey. It stores many useful items in it, such as different types of Pokeballs. Pokeballs are used for catching various Pokemon..."

I clicked through the rest, knowing it all. What really concerned me were the other two items. I couldn't recall ever recieving items like this in previous games. When he'd finished explaining the purpose of the bag, the doll and the stone appeared on the screen. "These are your two special items. I have given you a few other essentials, as well...but for now, you should pick your starting Pokemon..."

The items faded, and we were in the Professor's labratory. I clicked X and opened up my Handbag, and scrolled to the Special Items category. There were the two special items I had recieved. The doll was called a CASSIE DOLL. Its description read this: "These dolls appear alike, but each has its own unique quality." I wondered what that meant. I scrolled over to the stone. The stone was called a SPIRITHOLDER. "Give this to any Pokemon in your team." Which puzzled me. It didn't have any description, even though I clicked through it twice. Was it a glitch, or was it purposeful? I decided it was meant to be mysterious.

I closed the Bag and walked over to the Professor (instinctively pressing the B button to go faster, but I didn't have Running Shoes yet), and on a petite white table three round Pokeballs were perched. I looked at them and noticed something- one of them was darker than the others, and seemed to spew swirling dark fumes. It had a sort of menacing aura. I kind of wanted to avoid it.

"Please choose a Pokemon." The text raced across the screen. Since it'd turned out to be a new region, I was pretty excited. I wanted to see what kind of Pokemon these all were.

However...before I could press the A button...the screen went black.

At first I thought my power had shut off, but the darker Pokeball was still evident in the center of the screen. So that meant it had chosen for me. Or, more likely, I had pressed the A button accidentally. I was pretty sure I hadn't touched it, though, and also pretty sure that I hadn't picked that one. The Pokeball looked straight from hell; dark and toxic. It opened up, releasing a cloud of smoky puffs. A small Pokemon faded into existence. Its cry sounded from the speakers, and my first thought was that it wasn't like any I'd ever heard before. It was musical, but not in an attractive way. A dark chord of low viola strings sounded, paused for a half second, and was followed was a high-pitched, wavering, echoey bell sound. The sound frequencies seem to go straight through my spine and make me shudder.

Then I got a good look at the Pokemon. And it played the cry well. It was a tiny batlike purple creature with no eyes- just black, empty sockets. Dark purple liquid seeped from the sockets, streaming down its cheeks. The ears were dragony, tall and upturned slightly like devil horns. The body was a little smaller than the head, with tiny clawed paws, a ghost tail, and spiky protruding wings. A deep scar scored across its chest, oozing the same purple liquid as the eyes. Its size gave it potential to be adorable but its features smashed that potential to bits. Since when did you get a Ghost Pokemon as a starter anyway? I didn't want it either...and I wasn't too sure that this game was very feel-good.

"You have recieved GHOLI." Professor Willow informed me.

Informed me by defying the A button's consent.

Maybe I could restart- and hopefully then all these irritating glitches would stop. And get rid of Gholi too. I slid the power button, attempting to turn the power off.

Nothing happened.

I tried again- no worries. Maybe I didn't slide it all the way. I made sure to pull it all the way down this time, but still...nothing. Okay, so maybe it was my DS that was malfunctioning. I could use my DSi, then. So I tried to click out the game card, but it wouldn't budge. Okay, that was weird. I tried to close my DS. It wouldn't.

What. The. Hell.

So I continued, reluctantly. Even with the dark feeling that I had. Something was keeping me from stopping...the question is, what? I took a good look at Gholi, hovering dauntingly next to my character. I turned to it and clicked the A button. It didn't make a sound. The only thing the screen said was "..."

"Good luck on your journey," Professor Willow said. "You'll need it..."

The screen cut to black.

When it brightened again, I was standing in a gloomy town. Like I had predicted, the backgrounds were all some shade of purple. Gholi was hovering to and fro. Couldn't he at least follow me around, like a normal Pokemon? I walked cautiously forward, and dark, achingly sluggish music began to play. Gentle plinking piano, and then sudden random chords or notes. All the buildings (which possessed their own colors) look worn or crumbly. Everything was silent. I looked at the sign in the top left corner. It said GHOST TOWN.

I was beginning to think this game was more than a little creepy.

Okay, so...this game had a Ghost theme. That wasn't so bad, was it? I walked around for a bit, checking everything out. Gholi hovered to and fro still in front of the bushes. An exclamation point ascended above his head. He turned to me, and I walked over. I clicked the A button.

"GHOLI has found BONE," the screen said. The screen cut to my Bag, where the item was supposed to be. My stomach clenched a little bit. The "bone" was unclean. It actually wasn't a bone at all, but three ribs and a section of spine. Attached by bits of tendon were gooey chunks of muscle and flesh, rotting in places, veins protruding from the tendons and muscle. Marrow pulsed out from cracks in the bones and blood soaked everything. The bone happened to be in normal color- display of decomposing and blood.

The description said, "Remains of a Pokemon. No direct use."

I didn't want to use it anyway. I closed the bag. I had to follow Gholi- I didn't want to get lost, even in a game. It seemed now I was the one following Gholi. He floated into a broken-down house, and I kept up. There was nothing else to do here.

When we entered the house, I felt uneasy again. The whole thing was a mess of fallen pillars, broken wood, and cobwebs. But I still kept up with Gholi- he seemed to know what he was doing. Exactly what that was, I didn't know. I reminded myself that it was just a game.

I was perplexed to see a person standing in the middle of the ruins. It seemed to be a boy, with tufty yellow hair. I noticed a pillar had fallen across his body- and his legs had been severed, blood splattering the floor, splinters of bone amidst the sticky red.

I clicked the A button when I came up to him, and he merely said, "...He...lp...mee..."

The screen flashed black, a purple Pokeball fading up towards the screen. It was a trainer battle... I wondered if this was like Old Chateau, or if the rest of the game would follow up like this.

The boy cruised across the screen. He wasn't standing. He sat underneath the pillar, detached legs and all. "You have been challenged by THE LAST PERSON IN GHOST TOWN," the text said. He threw a Pokeball, and out flashed a Pokemon- the flash gradual, like a fade. There was a noise like teeth chattering mixed with schlorp sounds. It was a small rabbity Pokemon. It didn't have any flesh. Its bare eye sockets stared, its teeth and face oozing purple blood.

I had no idea what was going on.

I'd made up my mind- this could not be a kid's game. Pokemon games were meant for all ages, primarily. No person in their right mind would let their kid play this. No one would WANT to play this.

"THE LAST PERSON IN GHOST TOWN has sent out BONZELL," the screen said. I had no choice but to send out Gholi, even though I was afraid of what he'd do to them. There was something not right about Gholi.

When Gholi popped up, the battle music stopped abruptly. I checked his battle moves. There was only one.

"ETERNAL DESPAIR".

I didn't like the sound of that, but I clicked it anyway. I had a feeling the game would defy the A button again even if I decided not to. The screen went black. There was some sort of strangled cry, and I realized it belonged to the Bonezy. Visions of horror movies danced in my head again. It sounded like that- like a scream of total agony, like...like someone was being tortured. There were a few other sounds as well, ones I couldn't name, endless, unidentifiable screams. And finally, something like a shear of metal as the screen went white. After a couple of seconds, it went black again. Then we were in the house- except we were alone. There was nothing there.

Then I saw the walls were covered with blood and smashed organs.

Gholi cried out, his call ringing in my ears. The screen turned into an organized box. It appeared to be a chart of some sort. I looked at the words on the top, and they were in the Unown language. Below, there was empty space.

Two tick marks appeared.

The box shifted to Gholi's summary. I hadn't looked at it before. Gholi's level- Level 5- moved up to Level 6. And his picture- much to my discomfort- began to change. The scar on his chest blurred, and when it was perceptible again, I noticed it had changed color- from deep purple to black. I guess that meant he had gained...power. Which probably wasn't a good thing.

The uneasiness was turning to fear. But I wasn't going to let that stop me. I read the remaining part of Gholi's summary.

GHOLI- Lev. 6

Recieved from NOWHERE.

...

UNKNOWN nature.

...

BeWaRE

BeWaRE

BeWaRE

BeWa...

The rest was in the strange language, except the letters at the end were smeared and dripping. I closed the box and took a deep breath. When I looked at the screen I flinched. There was a moving shadow in the corner. I went over to it, faced it, and clicked the A button. A call sounded, a high triangle ting. It was a silvery, wispy-looking Pokemon that resembled a see-through, foxy creature. It had two Xs for eyes. "You have recieved SOLKI for your efforts..."

Gholi made a sound, similiar to his call. He led the Solki to the door, where Solki faded away. Gholi turned to me.

I froze.

I felt like he was staring at me. He was a pixelated character and then he wasn't. He was looking AT me. Through the screen. Through our worlds. He was suddenly real, he was...coming for me. Going to KILL me.

Then voices blared from the speaker. Hundreds of voices. Thousands. They were everywhere, clawing at my ears. It was like a choir of spirits, of despaired souls, singing one long, low note that got lower with each second. Dragging me in.

I was going to die.

I closed my DS, covering my mouth so I wouldn't yelp. I could still hear the voices. I ran upstairs and shoved the DS under my pillow. I was breathing hard. Once everything had cleared up, I ran out of the room and walked down the stairs.

I blinked a little, feeling wired. What had gotten into me? I shook my head. But I was still breathing hard, my heart pounding fast. I had really thought, for a moment, that they were going to kill me.

DAY 2

The next day I woke up early. I hadn't gotten much sleep, but still I woke up at around six. It was still rainy- it had advanced from steady rain to a thunderstorm- and I could still hear music playing under my pillow. Why wouldn't it stop? After I had eaten my bowl of cereal the other morning, I had tiptoed back upstairs- I felt like maybe abandoning the game would provoke some angry spirit to come and haunt me. I didn't get very far- in fear of being dragged in again, I had only left the house to escape the chorus of voices. Then Gholi led me up to some type of entrance. After that I was satisfied, so I shut it and spent the rest of the day doing other things. But I couldn't get the game out of my mind. It seemed to call to me, in whispering voices...

"Come play the game...come play the game..."

So I decided to play again. Even though I knew the uneasy feeling would return to me, I went back. I skipped breakfast and then opened my DS, and started off where I had been before. I wasn't going to let yesterday get to me. I reminded myself that I had the only edition of Pokemon Amythest in the world. I was the only one who could play it.

Solki was now part of my team. I had gone through her summary, and it was as confusing as Gholi's. When I got her out of her Pokeball and talked to her, she would also say dot dot dots. She had a Spiritual nature, and it said I had retrieved her from THEM.

THEM.

I was still standing by the entrance, which I now saw was the door to a forest. I clicked the Control Pad and walked into the forest, the two pitchless whooshing sounds of the entering making it even more spooky.

The top left corner said CEMETERY FOREST. Bones- they were everywhere. Thankfully they were "clean" bones. I walked through the forest, and noticed there were little floating orbs everywhere. I also noticed, they seemed to avoid Gholi, floating up out of his reach when we passed.

And, as I delved further into the murky undergrowth, there was a sign that said, HALF-POKEMON GROVE.

I walked further, only to draw back in fear and disgust.

The sight, even for a game, was grotesque. Pokemon...everywhere. Half-Pokemon. Some had only there upper half, dragging themselves across the blackened grass with their mangled intestines spilling from their bodies, leaving smudges of blood in their wake. Lower halves, stomachs and legs, lungs bulging out the sides, legs churning, blood spraying. And left halves and right halves...their bodies had been split vertically down the middle. Half a head, half a chest, half stomach, half legs. You could see all their insides like a museum display, their brains and stomachs spilling out, their limbs twitching, somehow still alive. I noticed that they were all Pokemon from the first region.

What kind of sick, twisted person would make this game?

Of course I didn't know if it was rated T or not, as the rating was in the strange language. I couldn't stop staring at the half-bodies. What was their purpose, anyway?

Gholi floated over to one of them- a top-half Pikachu whose intestines had been abused by the ground, beginning to fall apart and seeping acidic stomach fluids. I predicted Gholi would use his Eternal Despair on it or something. The Pikachu didn't look at him; it just kept dragging itself, looking repulsively pitiful. It didn't even acknowledge Gholi's presence. Gholi followed it patiently, and I saw something flash in his curved claws. It was a long needle, come from nowhere. Gholi proceded to jam it into the Pikachu's head. Blood and discolored liquids erupted from the wound, and still the Pikachu dragged itself. Gholi began to drink...drink the Pikachu's lifefuels.

I felt a little nauseous. Who would even want to make something like this?

I felt stupid doing it, but I spoke out loud. "Gholi...stop." I said in annoyance. As if he could hear me. And if he could then it only would have egged him on. The Pikachu became more and more shriveled, its body turning a brownish color until it fell apart. Its body split into pieces, blood and entrails flying. Some of the gore flecked my player. I squeezed the corners of my pillow. I hate to admit it, but I was scared. Really scared. Alone in my house, during a thunderstorm, darkness...watching an animal be mutilated.

My mind rocked as the chart came up again, along with another tick mark. Gholi leveled up to Level 7, and his scar grew thicker. I closed the chart and inhaled slowly. Gholi was horrible. He was a pixelated character and yet...I HATED him.

Gholi didn't do the same to any more of the half-Pokemon, so we moved on. I began to notice a pattern in the forest. Every once in a while there'd be empty, grassy space, but then you'd begin to see little bones. Little toe bones, and then paw bones- then skulls, ribcages, or whole skeletons. Then you'd see the still-rotting corpses, with wormy-looking bits of meat still threaded around the whiteness. Then you'd see torn-apart bodies, their organs torn and flattened and mauled by an unknown source. What source could it be?

Maybe they were always dying.

This pattern happened a few times. I wondered when exactly it would end. Then, for a while, there were no bones or corpses or organs, just empty grass space. It was silent as we walked. Finally, we came across a boy. A trainer. Maybe this had been a route all along, and I didn't know because I had been too occupied by the gory backgrounds.

This time the trainer didn't have any bloody appendages or pillars crushing his limbs. But his colors did single out from the rest- he was bright silver, with faded brown hair. No exclamation mark popped up over his head when I walked in front of him- maybe he was a statue. I turned to Gholi. From the way he'd been leading me on, maybe he could be in charge.

I clicked the A button, but the text box didn't pop up. There was no movement that I could see. Just a pause, and then the screen flashed black.

When I saw him on the battle screen, he was translucent. Again, there was no text on the screen. Throwing Gholi out from his Pokeball, I remember he had leveled up, and assumed the damage would be worse than the last time.

"You've been challenged by '...' "

The translucent trainer threw out a Solki, and it gave a high triangle cry. I clicked over Gholi's battle moves (he still only had Eternal Despair) but I was stopped as text raced across the screen. "GHOLI used VOODOO." Gholi didn't have any other moves besides Eternal Despair. Where was he getting this?

There was a brief pause, and then a needle faded onto the screen. It edged slowly towards Solki and then a heart appeared on Solki's chest. The needle entered the heart space, causing the Solki to shake violently and cry out. Its HP went down all the way. But even after it stopped, the HP bar became full again and then lost its HP. Over and over. And with each sequence, the Solki's level went down, all the way to zero. It happened so many times I lost count.

Then it disappeared.

Gholi called out, and text raced across the screen. It was in the Unown language.

The screen cut to black, and then it went to my Pokemon team. There, my own Solki had vanished. It wasn't there anymore. Then the chart appeared again- adding three more tick marks. Gholi went all the way up to Level 10, and he gained another scar.

I pressed the X button, scrolling through Gholi's summary. His special ability was called VOODOO. And, unlike other Pokemon games, it had a description.

"VOODOO- this special ability may also be used as a move. When used, the targeted Pokemon is killed, along with its trainer and any other nearby Pokemon of the same type as the targeted Pokemon."

The objective of the game, I realized, was to kill Pokemon and let Gholi feed off their souls.

DAY 3 PART 1

It was becoming a routine for me. I would play Pokemon Amythest until I couldn't take the creepiness anymore and then distract myself with something else. But each day I would feel pulled toward the game, wanting to go back, feeling it call for me. "Play the game...play the game..."

I skipped breakfast and went upstairs to play my game. Normally I would eat a big breakfast, but lately, no matter what I made, it looked like rotting Pokemon organs. Who would want to eat that? The Pokemon game was already beginning to influence my life in this way. It had already changed my eating habits in two days- who knew what it would change in a week?

I flicked open my DS, the power still bright green and thriving. I had used it for so long, and yet the power never turned to red. I was still in the forest, and it was right after I defeated the trainer. Where he had been standing, there was a small white bone. Gholi went up to it, and his call sounded.

"GHOLI has found a BONE." the screen said.

I didn't want to look at it, but the inventory opened on its own. This bone was worse than the last- a part of his Solki. It was a spine with twisted forearm bones and a bottom half of a skull. Muscle and skin clung to the bones, the upper half of the face still there, attached by a thin piece of flesh, with Solki's eye placed in the sunken skin. Wide open and staring.

I closed the box, my stomach churning. I was really beginning to doubt my instincts. Was this a game, really? What did it all mean? What was it trying to tell me?

We walked further, and some more organs and bones appeared. Every once in a while Gholi would stop by a bone, beckon me over, and make me pick it up. Each time the screen would flicker to the inventory and I'd have to look at and read each bone's description- and every time they got more revolting. I was annoyed because of that and becuase Gholi was making me fill up my bag with seemingly useless stuff. After all, the bones didn't really have any use, did they?

Did they?

After a few minutes of walking we finally reached the end of the forest- God, finally. We left, and we entered a town.

I'd only just started walking into the town when Gholi stopped me. Text popped up. "You have been traveling with Gholi for fifty minutes."

The first thing I noticed was that they didn't capitalize GHOLI, which is what games usually do. It's used not to be specific, but to insert words in correspondence to what Pokemon or item you chose. Surely Gholi couldn't be a specific character...surely...

The text continued. "Gholi's IQ has leveled up." Gholi flashed white briefly. There was a pause.

"Congratulations! Gholi has learned COMMUNICATE."

Gholi turned to me. "Hel-lo, Mas-ter. Are you...hungry?"

To be honest, I didn't know whether to be scared or not. It just seemed eerily, creepily real. Like he was actually talking to me and it wasn't game programming.

Gholi let out a rolled version of his call, sounding like a cackle. "I am hungry. You've been slack-ing lately, Master. I need more Poke-mon. We eat soon, I di-gress?"

I blinked. "What could he even want?" I muttered under my breath. I couldn't help but say something. "He sounds freaky...why couldn't I have gotten a normal Pokemon? This game is just retarded."

To this day I'm wondering if what happened next was real or a dream.

Right after I'd spoken- I didn't even press the A button- Gholi cackled once more. "You want a NOR-mal Pokemon? Haa. You're the STUPID one, Mas-ter. You're STUPID, and you deserve to DIE. Do you challenge me, Mas-ter? Do you?"

I clapped my hand over my mouth, giving a strangled cry.

I knew then it wasn't a game.

This was not a Pokemon Game. Gholi was real. There was no explanation for his answering me without physically interacting with the game. He responded to my own words. He knew. And this whole time...he was real. Shit. He was going to kill me. I was going to die.

Gholi got closer to the screen. This time I could hear his actual voice. "You're a coward, Mas-ter. They all are...those who play these games. I've been watch-ing you...and will always be watching you...forever."

I closed my DS and screamed. But as I did so, I could hear Gholi's voice...

"...space does not exist here; running away will do nothing...there is no escape..."

DAY 3 PART 2

The whole day afterwards I didn't go in my room. I couldn't tell anyone- they wouldn't believe me. I tried showing my older sister once, but as soon as I opened my DS, the screen had turned black.

I could seek no help.

I was on my own.

And what if...Gholi really could kill me?

But whenever I walked past I would freeze, hearing the music behind the door. And telling myself it was "just a game" was no longer going to work. Because now I knew it wasn't true. All I could think now was, "Why?" What did Gholi want with me?

I avoided any sort of game after that. My little sister asked me to play Mario Kart- I said no, I didn't feel like it. I didn't even sleep in my own room- I was afraid if I even touched the doorknob, Gholi's spirit would engulf my body and I would become his eternal slave. I feared everything- I'm sure my parents thought I was unreasonably stressed and was having a nervous breakdown- but I didn't care what they thought. All I knew was that I felt like I was being haunted- I could still hear Gholi's voice in my ears... "...forever..."

But I knew I had to play again. Or this nightmare would never end.

The only problem was, I was too scared to even come five feet within my room. Gholi was an actual threat. So I kept my distance, distracted myself with other things- but he was constantly on my mind, and I was paranoid that he would come out of the game screen and kill me. Slice me to pieces like he did with all those other Pokemon.

I slept on the couch that night, music playing on the radio, lights dimmed halfway. I had piled blankets over myself and was trying to sleep- but my ears still picked up the sinister music from my room. It sounded like it was getting louder, and I thought I was beginning to go crazy. But then I wondered if crazy people know they're crazy...which I always doubted...and by that time the music was so loud I swore it was right next to me. I planted my hands over my ears and my eyes popped open, so I had a center view of the lamp table next to me.

My DS was sitting right in front of my nose.

I clamped my hands over my mouth. Instead of throwing it away, which I was very tempted to do, I waited for my thoughts to settle. Why was it here? It was here because Gholi wanted to talk to me. For some reason- but I knew it was probably a lot more than that. Gholi didn't like me, that was clear- but he called me his Master, so maybe he respected me. I poked my DS experimentally (I was not engulfed by Gholi and made his eternal slave) and then picked it up off the table carefully. Strangely, the music had gotten softer, slower, and had changed into a different tune. I opened my DS. There was Gholi, floating in the middle of the screen. His eyes dripped red blood, and he was surrounded by unrecognizable Pokemon bodies, organs, and slabs of flesh and bone.

"Hello," he said.

And, after that, I think I might have blacked out.

DAY 4

When I woke up again, I had a sudden adrenaline rush- one filled with fear. I sat up, raising my arm, sweat trickling down my face. I was like that for a few moments, about to launch a punch at something that wasn't there.

When I finally realized that there was nothing to attack, I let my arm descend. I looked at the clock. It read 8:30. My parents had gone to work, and my sisters and brothers were all at camp.

I remembered the night before. I looked at the carpet; my DS was there, shining red in the light, soft music still playing. The DS light still green and charged. Besides being spooked, having bad dreams, and waking up with a burst of unneeded emotion, I appeared to be fine. I took a deep breath, picked up my DS, and opened the top.

Gholi was still there. But he looked slightly different- his design had been altered. A few organs and bodies had been added to his pile, and his cheek was splattered with a crimson liquid.

"Hello again, Master." I noticed that his speech no longer had short, broken pauses. It came to me- his IQ level had probably gone up even more while I was gone. And he could still do things when I wasn't playing. At least inside the DS game. Could he do stuff outside the DS game? He soon would. And I had to stop this...stop him.

"Nice of you to return to me, after so coldly slamming the top shut over me last night. I've been lonely...and loneliness makes me weak. I had to slaughter a few more souls when you were gone. I'm Level 25 now. Doesn't that please you?"

His language was so formal. He had gotten...lonely without me? I was important to him, then. I spoke. "You look different."

He cackled, making me cringe. "Of course I look different. I evolved. Don't I look familiar?"

Talking to a pixelated character on a screen and having them respond is about the strangest feeling in the world. I narrowed my eyes at him. He did look familiar. "You're the cover Pokemon, aren't you?"

Gholi snorted- a remix of his cry. "You're slow, Master, but correct."

"Do you have a new name?"

Gholi didn't snort, didn't cackle. "I haven't changed. I'm Gholi. I will always be Gholi. I've never been anything but Gholi. I rule over this game. And I seek vengeance." His voice sounded hollow, even- and it scared me. It sounded dangerous. He could kill me.

He would kill me if he wanted to.

Vengaence...on who? "What happened?"

Gholi sighed- a desolate sound. It sounded genuinely depressing. "I used to have eyes. Beautiful violet eyes. They were the source of my power, when I was alive. I lived among other Pokemon, in harmony- and I lived a wonderful life. Did you ever think that, Master? Did you ever think I could've been a normal Pokemon? A legendary?"

Gholi was the one in the intro. He's the one who had those eyes. And he was a ghost...of his former self.

He continued. "I even had a mate. She was amazing. But then, she was captured by trainers...and so was I. At least they tried to catch me. I was the rarest legendary in all the world, and all they cared about was selling me for money. But do you know what, Master? I didn't want to sacrifice my freedom to the greed and selfishness of humans. I fought back. And I paid the price...for they took my eyes, and they killed me."

He sounded so sincere it was scary. "I didn't know that."

"Of course you wouldn't know. You weren't there And that's not the end of it. When I woke up, I was a ghost. And not just a ghost- I was a puny, weak version of myself. I tried to eat, but I couldn't. Food went straight through my body. I was starving, hungry, and I felt like a million sharp claws were stabbing my heart. That's when I found out...the only way I could level up, become powerful and evolve into my legendary form again, was to suck life out of living souls. To kill. It brings me happiness to see others suffer, especially humans and their stupid Pokemon slaves. And someday, eventually, I may be able to be alive again...to see my mate once more..."

Outside, I could see the sky getting darker. Lightning flashed. "But why did you come to ME? I never did anything to you. I wasn't the one who killed you."

Gholi sneered. "You speak lies. From the moment you saw me you hated me. You've always been afraid of me, even before you saw me...you weren't going to pick me. You thought I was disgusting, and everything I did was disgusting. Do you want me to live like this forever? Well, I've been working for eons to try and return myself to glory. I sent out Pokemon in the form of humans to sell this one game that I have created. I am not from your world, and so I had to make a stupid child's game to deliver this into the human world. You've seen her...the lady who sold Pokemon Amythest to you? She's not a lady at all. She's actually Cresselia."

Cresselia? She hadn't looked anything like Cresselia...an old lady, not a beautiful creature at all. But I remembered her voice...soft, sweet.

"Don't try to deny your sins. You've always hated me. I came to you because I chose you. I wanted you to like me, to love me like a normal Master would...you didn't. You're the disgusting one." Gholi floated over to a Pokemon- a live Eevee- and began to eat it. The Eevee squirmed and squealed, but Gholi decapitated it with one swift bite.

"Gholi," I said firmly. I was helpless. "Come on...you have to stop..."

Gholi slit open the middle of the Eevee with his claws, and ripped out its whole digestive tract in one bite. "You see? You don't understand me still. You don't like me. And so you should be punished." Instantly the game flashed to my inventory, then my handbag, and flicked down to two items. First, it clicked over Spiritholder, and then my Cassie doll, and then all the bones Gholi had forced me to collect. It clicked back to Gholi, where the stone, the doll, and all the bones surrounded him. Immediately the doll and the stone rose into the air, and the bones started to swirl. The bones were mashing into each other, forming a hideous body that looked like a human and a Pokemon smushed together.

There was a white flash, and the bone-body stood against a background of blackness. Text raced across the screen. "Your BONES have turned into a LIVING CORPSE."

I felt panicked...really panicked. I clicked the A button as fast as I could. The Living Corpse was still there, and had begun to illuminate. The Cassie Doll and Spiritholder were illuminating as well, a bright light making shadows appear against the pixelated ground.

All three items morphed together. The result was a doll- it looked like my Cassie doll, except it had a stone embedded in its chest, and it had decaying skin in places. Some places had gotten to a point where decomposing muscle and chipped bones had begun to show. Blood poured in rivulets from the doll and made puddles on the ground.

Gholi had begun to grow an object in his paw- the same needle he'd used VOODOO with.

"And now," he snarled, "your punishment begins!"

He plunged the needle into the Cassie doll's chest, right where the stone was. Blood spurted everywhere, splashing the screen and blocking out Gholi.

The screen went black.

DAY 5

My DS wouldn't turn on after that. For the rest of the day I wandered around aimlessly until nighttime, where I fell asleep, wondering if my troubles were over.

What exactly was my "punishment"?

The next day I woke up to hear the phone ringing. I stumbled out of bed, rubbing my eyes, and answered it. "Hello?"

At first, I didn't hear an answer. The voice on the other end sounded muffled and gaspy, like they couldn't catch their breath. I furrowed my eyebrows, my arm prickling. "Hello?"

The breathing on the other end became louder. "Hi, Sophia," she said. Her voice sounded stuffy, like she'd been crying.

"Vanessa!" I said with surprise. "You're back from that wedding. How did it..."

Vanessa cut me off. "...Um, Sophie? I need to tell you something. It's...it's important."

I could feel all my hopes, my happiness, flying away. "What?"

Vanessa choked. "You know...you know Cassie? Well...she's dead."

I felt like volts of electricity were shooting through me. "What? Why...how? The flu?"

I could hear Vanessa sobbing. My heart cracked. "N...no. Not from the flu. She was stabbed. They f-found her in her room, and there was a knife in her chest, in her heart. They don't know who did it..." She sobbed again.

Tears were running down my cheeks. The Cassie Doll. I realized how familiar the stick-outy brunette hair had looked. That yellow sweater that the doll wore, how it looked just like Cassie's favorite yellow sweater. "...Oh my God. Oh my God." I was crying and hyperventilating at the same time. I dropped the phone, couldn't see where I was going. My best friend was dead...she was gone...

I ran into my bedroom. I grabbed my DS. I opened it and flicked on the power. The warnings popped up on the screen, but were cut off by blackness. I could see a violet shape. It looked like Gholi, except...more whole. Riding through the sky. Flying on majestic wings. There was no longer a scar on his chest, and there was a silvery pink dragony creature flying next to him.

His voice started up, but it was filled with life, and wasn't ghostly. "Dear Master..."

"Thank you for playing this game. Because I succeeded in killing someone from your world, I am now alive again. Thanks for playing, Master..."

I screamed. "NO!" I threw my DS at the wall, and the power turned off with a flash. I ran out of my room, tears rushing down my face, stumbled down the stairs, and slammed my face into the couch. Tears coming endlessly.

Through my tears, I heard a voice in my head. No, it wasn't in my head. It was real life.

"Thank you, Master...I'll remember you, and love you, even though you hated me...but there is one problem for me still. I have permanently marked myself in this world, so I am to stay her for eternity...

My job here is not done. You may see me again..."

...Master.

FIVE YEARS LATER

"So...how's your relationship going?"

Vanessa and I were strolling down the hallway. We were in college. We were still getting over Cassie's death, but we were slowly moving on, becoming adults. I had decided to become an editor and part-time writer after I'd written a horror/mystery book in high school that won in a writing contest. Vanessa was becoming a designer, following in her mother's footsteps.

"Oh, fine," I said casually, still sticking my hands in my pockets (because I was cautious about my fingernails...I was always chewing on them). She was talking about my boyfriend, a guy named Victor I'd been dating for a little over three years now. "He's a nice guy. A little klutzy, maybe stupid...but he gets good grades, he's good-looking, and we understand each other."

Vanessa tossed her curly dark-red hair. "Well, I'm glad YOUR relationship is so PEACHY. Jacob is being a jerk to me lately. Oh well...guys will be guys, won't they?"

I grinned. "Guys will be guys."

We walked down the stairs, debating over whether we should get them actual presents or just a box of chocolates..."The way to a man's heart is through his stomach," Vanessa said...until we came outside, and sat down on a bench beside the fountain to eat lunch. That was the great thing about this college...you could pretty much eat wherever you wanted.

As I took a bite of my turkey sandwich, I noticed an erratic-looking girl heading towards us. She walked funny, and her hair was dyed bright blue, but was long and silky. I didn't think she could see where she was going, but she was definitely coming our way. Quickly, she slipped me a square-shaped thing with an orange cover, then ran away.

Vanessa watched her go, raising her eyebrows. "Well, that was weird," she remarked. "Oh well...you get a couple crazyasses in college. No big deal. Anyway, what'd she give you? Better not be drugs."

I shook my head, looking at the case. I swallowed my bite of turkey sandwich, but it was also to gulp down my trepidation. "It's a game." I said.

"POKEMON AMBER...the only edition in the world..."

My heart lurched. I noticed there was a note pinned to the back.

"Dear Master," it said.

"I see you've grown, haven't you, Master? I got Manaphy to send this to you...I'd suggest you open it unless you want me to haunt you again. You haven't escaped me, Master, and neither have your friends...I will get you to cherish me as I cherish you...you will be with me for eternity...and we'll be together always..."

That was yesterday. And I'm still debating whether or not to open the game.

Either way...

...Gholi is always with me...always watching me. I'll never escape him...and neither will you...neither will the world...

END


End file.
